Space ventilating and heating apparatus



April 1, 1969 c. A. OTT 3,435,817

SPACE VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS Sheet of Filed July 28, 1967 40W il( 57 F 6. 3 INVENTOR.

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SPACE VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 196'/ sheet 2 of z mi w In o ,mm H1 Il 28. l 57 ll W 1 3 9 2| 44 45 I/f 22 2 .A 4 I8 o A I 46 O |3 23a FIG. 4

INVENTOR. CARL OTT ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,435,817 SPACE VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS Carl A. Ott, Denver, Colo., assignor to Over-Lowe Company, Inc., Denver, Colo., a corporation of Colorado Filed July 28, 1967, Ser. No. 656,769 Int. Cl. F24h 3/02, 3/00 U.S. Cl. 126-110 2 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to portable heating and Ventilating units for work areas such as those reached by manholes and the like and particularly to such heating and Ventilating unit of an improved construction and an improved control therefor.

Portable heating and Ventilating units have been provided heretofore which include an internal combustion engine for driving an air blower arranged to circulate discharged air over a heat transfer coil or surface to heat the air before delivering it through a suitable flexible conduit to the area to be ventilated. These units have proved satisfactory for a wide range of applications; however, it is desirable to pro-vide more compact units and to realize more efficient use of the engine and of the heating fuel. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved portable heating and Ventilating unit for Ventilating confined areas such as those below street level and reached by manholes.

It is another object of this invention to provide a portable unit for Ventilating and heating conned areas including an improved and more etlective arrangement for utilizing the heating and air circulating capacity of such unit.

Another object of this invetion is to pro-Vide a portable air heating and Ventilating unit for conned zones and the like including an improved arrangement for controlling the operation of the air heater thereof.

Brielly, in carrying out the objects of this invention in one embodiment thereof, by way of example, a heating and Ventilating unit is constructed by mounting the internal combustion engine on the top side o-f a blower scroll mounted with the blower axis vertical, so that the air passes through the blower in a generally horizontal. zone. The engine is mounted on a plate parallel to and spaced from the top side of the blower scroll so that air passes tothe central intake opening of the blower through the space between the plate and the scroll. The scroll is arranged in a rectangular housing and a gas combustion chamber is mounted in the housing adjacent the discharge opening of the scroll. Hot combustion gases are conducted from the chamber through the scroll in a duct shaped to conform generally to the curve of the scroll. The combustion of the gas is controlled dependent upon the discharge of air from the scroll.

The features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specication. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, can best be understood by reference to the fol- Patented Apr. 1, .1969

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lowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a heating and ventilating unit embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation View of the unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front elevation View of a portion of the unit of FIG. 1 partly broken away and partly in section along the line 3--3 of FIG. 4 to show the interior construction;

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan View taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the heating and ventilating unit illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a base 10 including upper and lower plates 11 and 12 which form the side walls of a blower scroll and a mounting plate 13 spaced from the plate 11 on posts 14 and which is the base for an internal combustion engine 15 and an alternating current generator 16 driven by the engine through a belt 17. The engine 15 is also connected directly to a blower rotor mounted in the scroll formed between the plates 11 and 12.

Gaseous fuel for driving the engine and for a heating burner is supplied through a conduit 18 which is branched-one branch 19 supplying the engine and a second branch 21 supplying the burner through a regulator 22 and a thermal control Valve 23. Air heated in the scroll is delivered through a detachable fitting 24 and a flexible conduit 25 to the point of use which, for example, may be down a manhole 26 yas illustrated.

Bent tubes or bails 27 attached at the corners of the plate 13 one on either side of the unit serve as guard rails and as handles for moving the unit.

The construction of the blower assembly is shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The plate 11 is provided with a central round opening 28 formed with a downwardly curved flange 29 which provides the air entrance to the rotor of the blower shown iat 31. The rotor comprises a circular bottom plate 32 and a multiplicity of blades or vanes 33 extending upwardly about the periphery of the plate. The blades being welded or otherwise suitable secured to the plate and to a guard ring 34 at their opposite ends. The rotor is provided with a shaft 35 mounted in a self-aligning bearing assembly 36 secured lto the bottom plate 12. The shaft 35 is connected to be driven from the engine shaft indicated at 37 through a llexible coupling comprising upper and lower members 38 and 39 which have spaced interftting projections 40 and 41. A flexible member 42 of synthetic rubber or other suitable material is positioned between the coupling members 38 and 39 and provides the driving connection. The belt 17 which drives the generator 16 is connected between pulleys 44 and 45 on the engine shaft 37 and on the generator shaft 46, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the blower rotor 31 is driven from the shaft 37 through the flexible coupling and draws air in through the opening 28 and distributes it outwardly into the space between the plates 11 and 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the edges of the plates 11 and 12 are connected by enclosing walls 48, 49, 50 and 51. Within this space there is arranged the scroll previously mentioned and which is indicated at 52. The scroll extends from a rectangular combustion chamber 53 around the inside of the walls 49, 50 and 51; the scroll engages the walls 49, 50 and 51 at about the center of each of the walls 'as indicated, and terminates at the center of wall 51, the wall 51 providing the extension of the scroll to the outlet indicated at 54 and which lies between the wall 51 and a baille member 55 secured -to the righthand of the combustion chamber 53. The scroll is shaped to provide the usual air ow passage of increasing cross section in the direction of rotation of the blower. Gas is supplied to the combustion chamber through a fitting 56 and air enters through a connection 57, the open end of which faces the stream of air discharged from the blower. The amount of air reaching the combustion chamber may be controlled by movement of a knob 58 which operates a rod 60 connected through a Bowden wire cable assembly 61 to operate a butterfly valve 62 in the open end of the connection 57. The mixture of air and gas within the combustion chamber 53 is ignited by a sparkplug 63 which is connected with the ignition system of the motor 15 and is energized concurrently. The combustion gases from the chamber 53 are discharged through a tubular duct of rectangular cross section indicated at 64 and which extends around the scroll 52 but is spaced a slight distance therefrom so that air circulating through the scroll passes over the side walls of the duct. The duct terminates in a right angle bend 65 and an upwardly extending stack 66 outside the housing which carries the fumes away from the air intake between the plates 11 and 13. The edge of the baflie S5 adjacent the scroll provides a cut off at the discharge end of the scroll and may be adjusted toward and away from the rotor 31 to secure the most effective operating condition of the blower. A connection 67 in direct communication with the elbow 57 and opening toward the air admitted to the elbow is provided to admit air at the scroll exhaust pressure to the conduit 68 which is connected in communication with the regulator 22. The regulator is set so that no gas is admitted to the combustion chamber 53 until the air pressure is above atmospheric in the discharge duct of the scroll; when this pressure is above atmospheric the regulator will allow an equal gas pressure ow thus gas is not supplied to the combustion chamber until a suicient air supply is available and the desired gas-air mixture may be formed.

The arrangement of the combustion gas discharge duct 64 in the scroll in the manner described provides effective use of the scroll and at the same time provides the heat transfer surface for heating the Ventilating air to be supplied to the duct 25 and no separate air heating coil is required.

An opening covered by a removable screen 70 is provided on the wall 48 adjacent the combustion chamber S3 in order to provide ready access to the sparkplug 63 and connection to the combustion chamber.

The safety control Valve 23 is provided in order to shut off the supply of gas to the combustion chamber 53 in the event that the fiame goes out and the chamber cools. The sensing element of the thermal control of this valve is connected through a sensing tubing indicated at 71 and which enters the combustion chamber through a fitting 72. A starting button 23a is provided on the control Valve 23 and is pressed in the usual manner to obtain a flow of gas on star-ting before the temperature in the combustion chamber is sufficiently high for the thermal control to open the Valve 23. When combustion has started and the thermal valve takes over, the button 23a is released and gas flow is maintained under con-trol of the thermal valve.

During the operation of the heating and Ventilating unit shown in the drawings and described above air is continuously supplied to the unit through the opening 28 during operation of the blower and is heated by the cornbustion gases fiowing outwardly through the duct 64 and stack 66. Thus, heated Ventilating air may be supplied during the winter time to workers below surface, for example, in a zone reached through a manhole. This unit may also be employed for Ventilating in the summer time in which case the gas supply is shut off by a suitable manual Valve indicated at 74.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with a specific unit construction, other modifications and lapplications will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is not desired that the invention be limited to the details of construction illustrated and described and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A space Ventilating fand heating apparatus comprising a centrifugal blower including a scroll and a rotor mounted therein, said scroll having a central opening for admitting air to said rotor and an air discharge outlet, `a motor mounted adjacent said scroll and connected to drive said rotor, means providing a gas combustion charnber adjacent said scroll, a combustion gas discharge conduit of heat conducting material positioned within said scroll and extending about said rotor for heating the air in said scroll, said conduit having an inlet connected in communication with said combustion chamber and constituting the outlet from said chamber, said conduit having an outlet portion extending through the wall of said scroll for discharging the combustion gases therefrom, and means for conducting air heated in said scroll from said discharge outlet to a point of use, said scroll comprising a pair of spaced parallel plates connected by a scroll shaped Wall member and including a third plate spaced from and parallel to one of said pair of plates, said central opening being provided in said one of said pairs of plates adjacent said third plate whereby inlet air passes between said one and said third plates and is heated by passage over said one plate, said motor being mounted on said third plate on its side remote from said pair of plates.

2. A space Ventilating and heating apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said motor is an internal combustion engine having a combustion gas exhaust conduit positioned to direct the gases exhausted from said engine in a direction away from said plates and away from said air discharge outlet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 897,732 9/1908 Gerdes. 2,384,468 9/ 1945 Holthouse. 2,564,257 8/1951 Herbster. 2,588,352 3/1952 Budlfane. 2,780,218 2/1957 Allen. 2,811,962 11/1957 Pelsue et al. 2,962,094 11/ 1960 Wallace 158-422 X JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 126-116 

